HOTELMARKETING.COM

Niche marketing for hotels can be extremely productive

November 22, 2011 | Hotel Marketing

Fairfield Inn & Suites was looking for a way to build awareness of its brand attributes to position this Marriott brand as the lodging choice for Boomer parents. Working with its agency, the brand launched, “Check in at Fairfield Inn & Suites, Check out College Campuses.”

This integrated PR and marketing program had a number of moving parts, which included leveraging partnerships, social media, marketing, public relations, Marriott channels, promotions and local activation through the hotels.

The brand executives knew that many of the hotels were located near college campuses and have been welcoming parents and their children for some time. To add additional power to the idea, FIS collaborated with The Princeton Review, a pioneer in helping students achieve their higher education goals through college preparation and tutoring.

Another example: Red Roof Inns. The company has a separate Facebook community called Redroofluvspets, which aims to raise awareness of the brand’s pet-friendly policies. The community was started in January and by the end of September had 900 “likes.” For October, according to Kevin Scholl, social media manager, the brand wanted to promote National Adopt A Shelter Dog Month. “We wanted to emphasize to our community,” he said, “that we care about the things they care about. We wanted a way to get engagement, not just have a contest.”

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